Connor Ingram’s heartfelt reaction to successful Oilers debut

It’s been a long road back to the NHL for Edmonton Oilers goaltender Connor Ingram, but after 10 months, he’s again making an impact in the major leagues.

The 28-year-old made 26 saves in a 4-3 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday, his first start as a member of the team after being called up from the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors last week.

“I’ve been through enough to know that the sun is coming up tomorrow,” Ingram said afterwards, per NHL.com’s Derek Van Diest. “No matter what happens in this life, I have a wife and a family that loves me, and that’s all that really matters at the end of the day. You want to win hockey games, but there’s a lot more to life than just hockey.”

The former third-round draft pick continued: “There’s a lot of days I didn’t think it would ever happen again. It’s just the truth of it in this world. It’s a competitive game, there are 64 spots in the world to [be an NHL goalie], so you don’t take it for granted any day that you’re up here. It’s a huge honor.”

It was Ingram’s first victory since his tenure with the Utah Hockey Club; he made 20 saves in a 3-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets back in early February.

It’s been quite the journey for Oilers’ Connor Ingram

Originally selected by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2016 NHL Draft, Ingram entered the NHL’s Player Assistance Program in January of 2021 to deal with alcohol issues related to undiagnosed obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). He returned to the program this March to help him cope with the death of his mother to breast cancer, per Van Diest.

Ingram has struggled in the minor leagues in 2025-26, going 4-5-2 with a 4.04 goals-against average and .856 save percentage in the AHL. But he showed that he can still make an impact in the National Hockey League, and he was rock solid against the Golden Knights on Sunday.

“Great for him,” said Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch. “He hasn’t played an NHL game for almost a year, and he started off in Bakersfield and maybe the stats aren’t ideal. I think he was under a lot of difficult circumstances there, but we knew he was a quality goaltender. He’s played a lot of games when he was in Arizona, and one year he played up to 50 games with an over .900 save percentage. Really solid.”

With Calvin Pickard struggling mightily with Edmonton this season, Ingram’s performance could earn him a longer look in the injury absence of recent trade acquisition Tristan Jarry.

He could be an option to start the Oilers’ final game before the three-day holiday break, a Battle of Alberta showdown against the Calgary Flames at Rogers Place on Tuesday night.